Anyway, in that post I asked a simple question: do hockey fans think that Sidney Crosby is a dirty player? Such a prompt inspired the biggest voting turnout in PHT’s short history.

(click to enlarge)

While there were plenty (878 or about 46 percent of the voters) who thought that he’s not a dirty player, the majority of PHT readers deemed “Sid the Kid” a dirty player. More than 53 percent – or 1,026 voters – chose the “yes” option.

Does this mean that Crosby is certifiably dirty? Not necessarily, but it indicates that fans perceive him that way (or at least a vocal enough majority doesn’t like him). Whenever one discusses Crosby in a big way, it’s almost natural to also think of his media-designated rival Alex Ovechkin. Considering the fact that Ovechkin received a suspension last season and dealt some very questionable knee-to-knee hits, it’s quite possible that both of the NHL’s biggest marquee talents might be considered dirty. But that’s another poll for another day, I guess.

Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk has been the most difficult goalies to score against this season. Leave it to a high-level player like Leon Draisaitl to make it look this, well, “easy.”

Draisaitl scored his 13th goal of 2016-17 by capping this pretty give-and-go play with Benoit Pouliot. You can see the frustration from Dubnyk at the end of the tally, as if he was saying “How was I supposed to stop that?” (though probably with more colorful language).

Draisaitl came into Friday with five goals and three assists in his last five games, so he’s been almost unstoppable lately.